India’s leading e-commerce giant, Amazon.in today announced the remarkable milestone of hitting the 3-lakh seller base in less than five years of the company’s operations in India. In just a span of 7 months, the company has on boarded 1-lakh new sellers on the marketplace to enable them in their digital journey. These 3-lakh digital entrepreneurs are now leveraging the Amazon India marketplace to expand their business online, reach customers across the length and breadth of India and become profitable.

Interestingly, this data is corroborated by a recent study conducted by Nielsen wherein Amazon.in emerged as the most preferred marketplace amongst sellers. The study, conducted across 16 cities in India through an offline face to face survey targeted existing online sellers as well as sellers who intend to sell online within the next 6 months. Over 50% of the sellers stated Amazon.in as their favourite website, as per the findings. Nearly half of this growing tribe of existing and potential online sellers recalled Amazon.in as the first marketplace that comes to their mind for business expansion through digital commerce. Furthermore, over 50% of the sellers associate ‘Reach to more customers across India’ with Amazon.in. The Nielsen study also reveals that 67% of the sellers associated Amazon as an opportunity to grow business.

The steep increase in the seller base on Amazon.in can be attributed to various unique, India-first innovations that encouraged seller participation across the country, especially from Tier II & III cities. In the last one year, Amazon.in has expanded its network of third party affiliates and service providers to ensure that sellers from non-metros and smaller towns get easy access and required support to start and manage their online business. With over 1MM downloads and enhanced features such as ‘Registration to Launch’, the Amazon seller mobile app has also been a big enabler for sellers to come on board and manage their business on the go. Over 60% of sellers on Amazon.in currently use the seller app to manage their business. The company has tied-up with various government bodies to empower local artisans, weavers and craftsmen across the country to embrace online selling and expand their business. Amazon.in also extended its lending program last year to assist more small and medium sized sellers and make selling online seamless for them. Interestingly, Amazon.in has been able to grow the seller base steadily in spite of the GST rollout, which was an area of concern for sellers. With the help of proactive measures such as ‘A-Z GST guide’ to help sellers transition to the GST regime and handholding them with the help of partners in the journey, the company has been able to not just sustain, but also add new sellers to its marketplace.

In November last year, Amazon.in also launched a dedicated program, Amazon Saheli to enable and empower women entrepreneurs in the country, The company collaborated with notable organisations such as SEWA and Impulse Social Enterprise to help their network of women entrepreneurs scale up their businesses through Amazon Saheli.

Sharing his views on this incredible growth in the seller base, Mr. Gopal Pillai, Director and GM, Seller Services, Amazon India said, “The seller services journey has been an exciting one and we are truly humbled to reach the 3-lakh seller milestone in such a short span. We have always believed in working seller backwards and have been constantly innovating to address challenges that are unique to Indian sellers. Through India-first innovations like Easy Ship and Seller Flex, along with our gold standard offering- FBA, to building online capabilities through SPN and growing the ecosystem along, we have been laser focused in our vision of transforming the way India buys and sells.”

“The fast paced adoption of our marketplace by sellers, as further highlighted in the Nielsen study is a testimony of their trust in us to help them grow and succeed. It’s still Day 1 for us and we will continue our efforts in making selling on Amazon synonymous to selling in India.”Gopal adds.

Sharing views on the study conducted, Dolly Jha, Executive Director, Nielsen India said, ““Amazon India has gained popularity amongst sellers in a short span of time. The study results reflect that sellers are inclined towards a marketplace that is seller friendly in terms of its offerings and services. In the current e-commerce ecosystem, sellers want to associate with a marketplace that is well suited for their needs and requirements.”

‘I had been looking for ways to expand my business, as my reach was limited to my hometown- Kishangarh only. Even in a small town like ours, we had heard about Amazon and its offerings, but had limited knowledge to start my business. I decided to give it a go through the partner network of Amazon. Through them, I have been able to launch and manage my business easily and have been very happy with the initial response. I have in-fact decided to shut my offline business as now I can cater to customers across the country while sitting at my home. I have already hired one person to assist me with my online store on Amazon.in,” said Vinod Vaishnav, Managing Director and Owner of Aashiyana, the 3 lakh-th seller on Amazon.in.

Since its launch in June 2013, Amazon.in has been working extensively to launch services that meet different business requirements of sellers and help them grow their business profitably online. From offering Fulfilment by Amazon, innovating Easy Ship, launching Seller Flex to building the largest storage capacity in ecommerce in India for sellers to the tune of 13 million cubic feet, Amazon.in has been helping sellers reach millions of customers across the country. Furthermore, through its comprehensive suite of tailor-made services such as regional language support, lending, Seller University, Amazon.in has aligned its efforts to handhold sellers and enable them to leverage the growth of digital economy.